Jerry A., I saw your nice posts about your new 170. Nice flag mount too! I see that you're apparently trailering with a small Toyota or Scion? Seems this vehicle might have the same tow-class rating as my compact '96 Mercury Mystigue (1000lb. max.?), original clutch, I might add! How does your car do pulling the 170? Mine hurts a little on hills and in headwinds, but otherwise pretty smooth. I think my total rig (trailer, stuff in the car and boat) is about 800lbs.--- very close to the max! Enjoy! Mike G.
Jerry A.--- how well does your Toyota pull 170?
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JerryA
Mazda Protege P5
Mike - It's a Mazda P5. It's an automatic and it does real well. It has 4 wheel disc brakes. I was worried about pulling out of the water, but it doesn't seem to care. I think the hitch settles about an inch with the trailer attached. Not sure what the towing max is for it, never looked. I hauled my Precision P13 with it before I bought the 170 and I didn't even know it was back there so I figured this would be ok. I can tell the 170 is back there, but no more than hauling 4 bags of salt pellets (water softner) in the trunk. Thanks for the compliments on my boat. I had to make it mine with some kind of mod.
Mike - It's a Mazda P5. It's an automatic and it does real well. It has 4 wheel disc brakes. I was worried about pulling out of the water, but it doesn't seem to care. I think the hitch settles about an inch with the trailer attached. Not sure what the towing max is for it, never looked. I hauled my Precision P13 with it before I bought the 170 and I didn't even know it was back there so I figured this would be ok. I can tell the 170 is back there, but no more than hauling 4 bags of salt pellets (water softner) in the trunk. Thanks for the compliments on my boat. I had to make it mine with some kind of mod.
JerryA-- sorry for the car faux pax!
Jerry, Ah ha! It's a Mazda! Looks like a good little car! My wife has a 2001 Protege Sport and it's a good one-- albeit the suspension is much tighter/more hyped-up than on my Merc. Mystigue. You said, "I think the hitch settles about an inch with the trailer attached". What do you mean by this? Every time I trailer my 170 --which has a tongue weight of at least 150 lbs. (probably due to the trailer winch stantion's forward position, and therefore the boat's weight being placed too far forward), my receiver hitch seems to drop a hair when the trailer's on-- then recoil days after I've disconnected the trailer. Is this what you're referring too? And I take it this happens to other people's low capacity/small car hitches, not just mine?! Mike G.
Jerry, Ah ha! It's a Mazda! Looks like a good little car! My wife has a 2001 Protege Sport and it's a good one-- albeit the suspension is much tighter/more hyped-up than on my Merc. Mystigue. You said, "I think the hitch settles about an inch with the trailer attached". What do you mean by this? Every time I trailer my 170 --which has a tongue weight of at least 150 lbs. (probably due to the trailer winch stantion's forward position, and therefore the boat's weight being placed too far forward), my receiver hitch seems to drop a hair when the trailer's on-- then recoil days after I've disconnected the trailer. Is this what you're referring too? And I take it this happens to other people's low capacity/small car hitches, not just mine?! Mike G.
Trailer Tongue Weight
Hi Gball, Hope all's well. Reading your post I'd like to suggest your life will be easier if you reduced your tongue weight to no more than 10% of total weight if possible. The best I could acheive is still a little heavy...100lb. Put a bathroom scale on a chair to test with trailer level. You'll need to get an approx weight of boat & trailer...my 170 & Karavan is around 800-900 lbs. Truckstop scales on the highway will do if lacking specs. Next is to reduce by a combination of pushing boat rearward on trailer. Will require bunker and crutch adjustments etc when done. If like my standard package, probably won't be enough so next is positioning Trailer Axle forward. Loosen mounting U Bolt nuts and use a BFH to pound mounts forward-a little at a time each side-until around 10% at tongue. Too heavy (>10%) is a pain! and too light (<5%) causes trailer sway. as I said I had to settle with around 100lb as axle could not be moved forward enough. Much better than the 160lb I started with! One final note is wheel tracking. To ensure a straight true pull, hook up to your vehicle. Pour strips of water in front of the vehicle wheels and drive STRAIGHT over the water. Observe where the trailer tires track in relation to the vehicle. Acheive a symetrical-from-centerline position for straight true tracking by moving one side of axle forward or rearward as needed. Once done, you'll wish you did this a long time ago! Joe
Hi Gball, Hope all's well. Reading your post I'd like to suggest your life will be easier if you reduced your tongue weight to no more than 10% of total weight if possible. The best I could acheive is still a little heavy...100lb. Put a bathroom scale on a chair to test with trailer level. You'll need to get an approx weight of boat & trailer...my 170 & Karavan is around 800-900 lbs. Truckstop scales on the highway will do if lacking specs. Next is to reduce by a combination of pushing boat rearward on trailer. Will require bunker and crutch adjustments etc when done. If like my standard package, probably won't be enough so next is positioning Trailer Axle forward. Loosen mounting U Bolt nuts and use a BFH to pound mounts forward-a little at a time each side-until around 10% at tongue. Too heavy (>10%) is a pain! and too light (<5%) causes trailer sway. as I said I had to settle with around 100lb as axle could not be moved forward enough. Much better than the 160lb I started with! One final note is wheel tracking. To ensure a straight true pull, hook up to your vehicle. Pour strips of water in front of the vehicle wheels and drive STRAIGHT over the water. Observe where the trailer tires track in relation to the vehicle. Acheive a symetrical-from-centerline position for straight true tracking by moving one side of axle forward or rearward as needed. Once done, you'll wish you did this a long time ago! Joe
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JerryA
Recoil?
Gball - Not sure what your "recoil" statement means. Oh well no big deal. I was referring to how far the back of my car drops when I put the trailer on. Is that what you're referring to? It's not excessive when compared to any trailers I've ever towed, so I'm not worried about it. This is a pretty light boating package when compared to others in the 17 foot range. I can pick up my trailer tongue pretty easily, so it can't be too much.
Gball - Not sure what your "recoil" statement means. Oh well no big deal. I was referring to how far the back of my car drops when I put the trailer on. Is that what you're referring to? It's not excessive when compared to any trailers I've ever towed, so I'm not worried about it. This is a pretty light boating package when compared to others in the 17 foot range. I can pick up my trailer tongue pretty easily, so it can't be too much.
Definitely need some adjustments
Jerry, Yeah, my car only drops an inch or so when I put the trailer on-- I guess recoil wasn't a good word for that! As far as tongue weight goes, sounds like I definitely need to shift the load aft on my trailer--- I can not easily pick up my trailer's tongue-- I'd say it's about 150 lbs. tongue weight. Last year prepping Hurricane Frances (while backing the 170 into my garage) I realized that the trailer/boat are about 12" too long, and the tongue sticks out under the garage door. I had to lower the tongue and fold the tongue jack under so I could rest the tongue on the ground and sandbag around the small opening under the garage door. The tongue was almost impossible to manage just off the ground like that! Mike
Jerry, Yeah, my car only drops an inch or so when I put the trailer on-- I guess recoil wasn't a good word for that! As far as tongue weight goes, sounds like I definitely need to shift the load aft on my trailer--- I can not easily pick up my trailer's tongue-- I'd say it's about 150 lbs. tongue weight. Last year prepping Hurricane Frances (while backing the 170 into my garage) I realized that the trailer/boat are about 12" too long, and the tongue sticks out under the garage door. I had to lower the tongue and fold the tongue jack under so I could rest the tongue on the ground and sandbag around the small opening under the garage door. The tongue was almost impossible to manage just off the ground like that! Mike
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